Four out of the 11 ambassadors summoned by the interim government led by Sushila Karki to report to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kathmandu have resigned.
Those who resigned include Chandra Kumar Ghimire, ambassador to the United Kingdom; Krishna Prasad Oli, ambassador to China; Ramesh Chandra Paudel, ambassador to Qatar; and Lok Darshan Regmi, ambassador to the United States. However, their resignations have not yet been accepted.
Among the ambassadors ordered by the government to return to Nepal by November 6, only the Nepali ambassador to Russia has not returned due to health reasons.
Some ambassadors who have not resigned regularly visit the ministry, report for duty, and then leave. A few ambassadors are on leave despite returning to Nepal.
On October 16, the government had recalled the ambassadors to China, Germany, Israel, Malaysia, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan.
They had been appointed as ambassadors on July 29, 2024, through a Cabinet meeting by the then prime minister KP Sharma Oli's government. The decisions regarding the ambassadors appointed at the same time to Australia, India, Denmark, Sri Lanka, South Korea, and South Africa remain unchanged.
On November 2, the Supreme Court had issued an interim order preventing the implementation of the government's decision to recall the ambassadors. However, the government instructed the ambassadors to report to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kathmandu. Following the government's order, acting ambassadors are representing Nepal in the 11 countries.
Talking to journalists, Prime Minister Sushila Karki gave three reasons for recalling the ambassadors.
First, she said that consultations were held with the respective countries regarding the performance of the ambassadors, and based on their feedback, those whose performance was unsatisfactory were recalled.
Second, the prime minister said that some ambassadors had publicly criticized the current interim government, leading to their recall.
"Some ambassadors were making statements that the current government is only for two to four months. It seemed they had not accepted the country's changed political situation. Based on that, we decided to recall them," PM Karki told journalists.
The third reason, PM Karki claimed, was that in recent times, some ambassadors' names had been linked to financial irregularities, leading to their recall.
"From our experience, the performance of those appointed as ambassadors based on diplomatic experience has been better than those appointed as political workers," Karki said.
One of the recalled ambassadors said that they resigned because they were summoned to report to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is not practiced anywhere in the world. He said that since the government had directly violated the court's order by asking them to report, he could not morally remain in the position.
"All countries in the world appoint ambassadors. If the role of an ambassador were unnecessary, they would probably just maintain a regular office," the ambassador said. "Without an ambassador, the country's international image and diplomatic influence diminish. There must be some dignity to the position of ambassador."
